


Change can be Good

by Zombie_Raptor



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5789173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zombie_Raptor/pseuds/Zombie_Raptor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Al gets his body back, Ed loses his alchemy in the process as well as his arm that he had regained. Ed goes on still unable to stop moving, and decides to stay with the military and leave Al with Winry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With Ed's arm, I like the automail so I'm just gonna say this time he brought back his body and had to attach his soul or some shit like that, so two things needed sacrificing instead of just one, if you don't like the explanation make your own up.
> 
> Also some of the past things with Hawkeye and Mustang are different to make them not quite as close like the confrontation in the tunnels with Envy although I may or may not mention them in the story.
> 
> Also this story has been unfinished for a long time and I forgot where I was going with it so I just wrapped it up and called it good. Pretty sure I wanted some actual fighting at some point, but it really didn't turn out that way. I really gotta be in the mood to write about fights, or you know, put any effort into my writing at all.

Ed walked through central command trying to avoid running into Mustang, who happened to now be the new Fuhrer.

Ed turned the corner and ran into Riza “Colonel” Ed saluted with a slight grin.

“Yeah I'm now a Colonel, and yet I still feel like Mustang's personal assistant” Riza replied with annoyance in her voice.

“Hey wanna go for a walk, ever since Al got his body back he's been at home, I don't want him getting involved in this” Ed said looking at the ground.

“What about Winry, I thought she was going to ask you out” Riza asked curiously.

“Well she did, but it's just, I think Alphonse is better for her” Ed finished. Ed liked Winry and loved her, but she was more like a sister than anything. “I don't need to be putting her in danger, and I'd be taking her away from her home, life, and work, plus the town needs her, I just can't take her away from all of that” Ed finished.

Riza gave a small smile “I wanted to be with Roy before Ishval for a while but the woman he parades with, and the fact that he still treats me like a servant, whether he's grateful or not, I just can't deal with it anymore" she finished, the annoyance in her voice more clear.

“Come on Colonel, let a fellow officer take you out for a walk” Ed smiled as he motioned her to walk beside him.

Riza nodded giving a smile as she moved to his side. Ed had gotten promoted to Colonel so he would stop bothering Roy for permission to do stuff, and well he did deserve it, but most people tended to leave that part out when making fun of him.

Ed walked out of Central Command with Riza by his side. As they walked silently through the streets Riza noticed that Ed was still giving the graveyard a wide berth “Ed it's not your fault he would of done this for anyone” Riza said in a comforting tone.

“But it was for me so it is my fault” Ed replied angrily.

“Ed with all due respect, Maes would've found out eventually even if you weren't here, he was too smart not to have, so stop blaming yourself and respect what he did” Riza replied angrily.

Ed glanced at her sadly “I just, it’s easier if I blame myself” Ed responded, looking away.

Riza felt bad for him, as long as she had known him he had always shouldered all of the blame if he knew he had any part in it; he never did anything for himself.

“Ed let's go do something tomorrow, meet me command” Riza demanded more than asked.

“Actually I was going to leave tomorrow, Liore is still rebuilding, I thought I should go help since it was my fau—” Before he finish the word he was on the ground.

“No, you did everything you could do at the moment and thought was right and they are a happy united community now because of you, so central tomorrow or I'll have you dragged in, and you can take up one of Mustang's missions” Riza said standing over him.

“Fine, I'll take some time off" Ed groaned.

Riza smiled, what Ed needed was time off, and actual time off, not time off to do something else that he needed to do for work.

“Where's the nicest hotel” he asked, but received another blow to the head knocking him down again.

“I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT” Riza yelled.

“Damn neither did I, I was gonna stay there, you do realize I don't own a house or anything right. I just stayed at whatever hotel you guys put me up at” Ed said rubbing the back of his head.

Riza looked at him curiously “Oh really, why not?”

Ed continued glaring at her “First I haven't had time”, Riza could understand that because he had been so busy before everything ended, and after he had been going around the country smoothing things out in places that became unstable as result of the old government being almost completely replaced. “Second, I worked all of the time when I was here so I didn't see the point.”

When Riza thought about it, Ed always fell asleep in the library or room he was studying in and worked the rest of the time. “And third I was hardly ever here to need a place to stay” he finished.

“Wow, well I think you shouldn't waste the money on the hotel, you can just stay with me till you find a real place” Riza offered happily.

“Well now who's being” Ed started, but stopped seeing the look in Riza's eyes.

“I will take your kind offer” Ed replied politely and giving a small grin. “Although isn't it against regulations to live together” Ed asked. Ed hadn’t really read anything about the rules in the military, but vaguely knew something about relationships.

“Only if we're seeing each other” Riza replied “Which we're not” she added more to remind herself that he's only sixteen and that wouldn't look all too great on her record, but she had thought about it and it didn't help that she admired him as much as she did because he had done so much without complaint, and any complaining he had done wasn't all that serious since it was mostly about his height and not being able to work more. But he never placed the blame of who put him in his situation on anyone else but himself.

“Are we gonna go” Ed asked after about thirty seconds of standing.

“Oh yeah sorry” Riza replied motioning Ed to follow her.

As they started walking to Riza's house Ed smirked a bit “You know I find it funny” he started with a grin.

“What” Riza asked looking at Ed.

“I was twelve when I joined the military” Ed grinned.

“And” Riza asked not seeing where he was going with this.This could be amusing in itself, but she knew that he had more to say.

“How long have you been in the military” Ed asked with a grin still on his face.

“Eight years now” Riza responded.

“Well in six of those years you were lieutenant or lower in rank, and I started as a Major and got to Colonel in three years where as it took you eight” Ed said grinning. Riza glared at Ed, who fell back a few steps to avoid a punch coming from Riza. “Please Colonel Hawkeye you insult me by thinking you could hit me that easily” Ed said as he slid his hands into his pockets.

Within a few feet Ed faceplanted, Riza had to decided it would be easier to just trip him when he wasn't looking.

"You hardly even count as a Colonel, you still act the same way and do all the same shit as before" Riza said, helping Ed back up.

Even without alchemy the Armstrong family had decided that he was worthy, their words, of their training — not to mention the their only chance of children was Catherine and after talking to her the chances still seem slim — so he was now an expert in hand to hand, being able to keep up with Armstrong, and an expert in swordsmanship seeing he as he was able to keep Wrath from slaughtering him in straight combat, and his speed with on par with, well he didn't know at this point since he was faster than everyone else. Even so he learned from the Armstrong family Ed's style was his own. He combined the way the Armstrong's fought with his acrobatic abilities. He could take a heavy hit like Alex, but he could avoid the attacks a lot better.

“You know I actually gotta thank Greed” Ed chuckled.

“Oh why is that” Riza asked, eyebrow raised.

“Well Greed's ability was his ultimate shield, which he made by rearranging the carbon atoms his body. So I had Winry stick with the lighter northern automail because it has more carbon" Ed explained “and it’s so much lighter” he added grinning.

"So how does that help you, you can't use alchemy anymore" Riza asked.

"Well actually I’m working that part out, I think I’m pretty close though" Ed chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

“Ugh let's go around” Riza said seeing a group of people up ahead.

“What, who's that” Ed asked curiously.

“An old acquaintance I'd rather not deal with him, it'll just end up with someone getting hurt or killed” Riza replied.

“Hey you offend me you think I couldn't take these guys on without hurting them too badly” Ed asked in a mock offended tone. “If you don't deal with them now they're never going to go away” Ed said as he started walking towards them. Riza didn't see the point in not following, and if anything this was just going to help.

The men saw Riza walking towards them with a kid “HA, you thought bringing a little pipsqueak with you was really going to help, asking for help Riza I thought that you were above that” the man in front mocked.

“Well he offered to help me take care of you guys without killing you, but after that I'm not so sure” Riza said giving Ed a look, who had steam rising from his head. “Yep just signed your own death warrant” Riza laughed.

After about five seconds Ed was about to rush in before Riza stopped him. “Remember no killing them, they aren't homunculi don't hit anything too hard with your automail” Riza pointed out. Ed realized he would probably crack their skulls if he did hit them in the head. He listened to Riza and his temper dissipated; he didn't want to murder them.

Might as well put on a little show for them Ed thought grinning inwardly, while keeping a serious facing.

He slowly walked towards the men. A couple of the men in the back laughed and charged towards him, Ed easily slid away from the punch and delivered a swift knee to the first man’s stomach, and then spun around to his left bringing his elbow up to the second man’s chest knocking him down and breaking a few ribs. The man who managed to slip behind Ed threw a punch at the back of Ed's head only to meet empty air. Ed did a backflip, flying over the man and kicking him in the back and sending him flying in one of the other guys. The last man charged to tackle Ed who in turn lifted his arm at the last second causing the man to run into it.

"Try not to stay unconscious too long, it's like super bad for you" Ed said as he walked by the man’s body.

Ed walked back to Riza “See isn't that better I doubt they'll give you trouble now” Ed smiled.

After a few minutes Ed and Riza arrived at her house. Hanging his coat up Ed went and sat on one of the couches "Hey Riza, did you have anything planned tomorrow" Ed asked.

"Well no I just kind of figured I would take you out to relax and have some fun" Riza replied with a blank face.

"Well when I traveled I had fun when we weren't working, but I was thinking" Ed started. Riza raised an eyebrow "shut up" Ed said glaring "Anyways I've been working ever since my mom died" Ed said.

"Pfft working. You were the youngest state alchemist ever, the most talented alchemist I've met probably even without your alchemy, without you the homunculi would of beat us and killed pretty much everyone, you’re an amazing fighter, I could keep going like this for a long time, so saying that you were just working is an understatement" Riza told him loudly.

"Anyways" Ed said pausing long enough to let Riza refocus her attention again "Since I have always been working it's kind of odd for me to stop now, so I was thinking you could take me to Liore and I could help rebuild while hanging out with you and Rose and other people there." Ed suggested.

"Gah well I guess I kinda like to work as well, with everything that's been happening no one's really had any time off, especially you" Riza said "Anyways let's go to bed, the guest bedroom is right across from mine" Riza said, motioning for Ed to follow her.


	2. Chapter 2

Riza got up and slipped out of bed. As she slowly walked out the door of her bedroom wearing almost nothing she heard a sizzling. It dawned on her that Ed was here "Ed" she called out.

"Yeah I'm awake already and breakfast is almost done so hurry up and get ready" he called back.

"Of all people, how are you already awake" Riza asked groggily from the hallway.

"Well I wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you for now" Ed replied "Oh and I hope you don't mind that I just took the ingredients out of your fridge" Ed told Riza.

"Ah no it’s fine, I didn't even know I had stuff in my fridge" she replied licking her lips. She would get groceries just in case, but generally ended up giving them to her neighbors before they went bad.

Ed put the eggs, bacon, and hash browns on two plates and set them on the table. Riza walked in and pulled her hair back out of the way. She noticed Ed was staring at her and his face was beet red. Riza realized that all she was wearing was a shirt that came down a little higher than mid-thigh and showed quite a bit of cleavage.

"Oh crap, lemme go change" Riza said as she quickly turned and ran towards her room.

After a few minutes Riza came back out to see that Ed had waited for her "I thought it would be even more awkward if I ate and just sat here staring at you" he said grinning.

Riza laughed "Well at least you know how to make things less awkward," she responded "anyways sorry about that, I don't normally have company so I don't think about what I wear to bed or once I get up" Riza chuckled. "Well thanks for making breakfast" Riza said "I normally just pick something up on the way to work"

Ed chuckled "Yeah I normally do as well, but I figured cooking couldn't be that hard" he replied with a big grin.

"How many times did you restart" Riza asked, a smirk appearing on her face.

"None actually, I learned to cook from Pinako since I figured she couldn't cook us every meal while we were traveling, plus I picked up some tips from Sig and teacher and the time I spent training on the island, but I guess cooking just isn't the most convenient thing for me" Ed explained.

"Well I think it's sweet" Riza grinned.

"Oh and don't worry, I already fed Black Hayate" Ed said, taking a breath from eating. "Wow Ed, you're being really sweet, especially for you" Riza said, unable to prevent herself from taking a jab.

"Haha" Ed replied glaring. "I just seem the have this empty feeling inside.... Work helps" he explained, leaning back in the chair. "Ever since my mother died I haven't stopped moving, Al and I have just been going forward to reach our goals" he said, dropping his head into his hands. "We worked to get our mother back and we screwed up so badly trying. It’s just odd to stop now”

Riza went around the table to sit by Ed "I'm not going to argue with you about that, but at least Alphonse’s body hasn’t suffered the abuse yours has. And don’t worry about Al. He was always following you, so while he may have had a strong drive, I think it’ll be a lot easier for him to settle down" Riza said trying to comfort Ed, but failing.

"I, I just don't know what to do anymore" Ed replied. "I've put so much focus into achieving my goals, I just don't know what I should do anymore" he explained. "I mean hell, I lost my alchemy and all I can do now is fight" he added with a frown.

"You can cook for me" Riza said, trying to cheer him up a little.

Ed chuckled a bit at her comment. "But I can see what you mean" Riza responded. "Someone being so driven, when you lose that drive after such a long time it can leave you at a loss" she said. "But you always wanted to protect people didn't you" she asked. Ed raised his head and nodded. "Well you can still help people, make people's lives better and safer" Riza said.

"Besides, if you wanna learn how to lose that drive to work, hang around the office sometimes. They can show you how to stop working, in fact they seem to be experts at not working" Riza said irritably.

Ed laughed "If you don't mind, can I stay here for a while" Ed asked, his head now resting on Riza's shoulder with her arm around him.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind the extra company since mostly everything has died down now" Riza replied. "I guess there will be a lot less military work now, just the standard cleanup and reconstruction stuff" she added, resting her head against the side of his.

"Just don't expect me to pay for everything" Riza said with a small grin.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm poor" Ed replied. "I mean almost all my train tickets were free, provided or reimbursed later on, as were the rooms we stayed in" Ed said smiling. "Come to think of it the only thing me and Al paid for ourselves was the food, and half of the time people gave us food" he said grinning "oh yeah and my automail, you wouldn't believe what Winry charges, but I always used my research grant" Ed added with a grin.

"I know state alchemists make a fair amount more than normal soldiers, but you're saying you've just had money piling up in your account for the last three years" Riza said standing up.

"I guess, in all the confusion they haven't even been able to revoke my state alchemist position either" Ed replied grinning and holding up his watch "or they just don't care" he added.

"Ugh you probably have more money than me" Riza complained.

"Yeah, but you should be nicer about that" Ed said smiling "I mean since I'm staying with you my money is pretty much yours."

There was a pause in the conversation for a few minutes as they sat together. Eventually Ed let out a sigh "You know I still wish I could of at least gotten my arm back, no amount of money can fix that" Ed said sadly.

"You're amazing you know" Riza said. "First you lost leg trying to bring back your mother, which as even you know now was a mistake and you paid for" Riza said "then you gave up your arm to save your brother and bond him to that armor" she said "and finally you gave up your arm after you got it back and your alchemy as well to give your brother a chance to have his body back" Riza said. "Not to mention you gave up your childhood to do all of this, you've given so much you don't know what else to do now, do you" she asked.

Ed got up and walked over the the couch "What about you, I can't really believe that your just done with Mustang" he asked.

"No, you're right" Riza replied "we've been through far too much for me to just be done with him, and I still believe in him and what he's trying to do" she finished moving to sit down across from Ed. "Doesn't stop him from pissing me off though" Riza added annoyingly.

"I may not know him as well as you, but I thought becoming the Fuhrer would cause his ego to pop and come back down to earth" Ed chuckled.

"Yes but I fear it has now just grown beyond the capacity of this small world" Riza responded with a smile.

"Anyways did you wanna go to Liore today" Ed asked.

"Ugh no, some people actually follow the military rules" Riza replied pulling her hair up and clipping the same way as always.

Ed chuckled "You should leave your hair down" he suggested.

"Yes and you should follow military protocol and wear the uniform" Riza replied with a grin.

"Why don't you wear your hair down" Ed asked putting his feet up.

"Because it gets into the way in a fight" she responded, knocking Ed's feet off the coffee table.

"I'll come with you" Ed said, tossing his red coat on. "I do actually ask for leave" Ed glared, seeing her expression.

"What, to work" Riza asked, her eyebrow still raised.

"No, I need my automail repaired as well" Ed laughed. "Of course we could just go as a type of outreach thing from the military, I mean we are Colonel's, I doubt anyone would question it" Ed suggested.

"I'd still get permission" Riza replied.

"Ugh, Mustang promoted me so I wouldn't bother him about this stuff" Ed complained.

"Yes and I got promoted so I could do the job that I used to do for Mustang" Riza said pouting about Mustang's laziness. "But I do actually get paid more now so at least it’s a little better" she added smiling.

"Yeah, and since I'm a state alchemist and now a Colonel I get paid even more than you" Ed grinned.

"You can't even use alchemy anymore though" Riza argued.

"I'm still a talented scientist that can help other people out with their alchemy" Ed replied sticking his tongue out at her.

Riza fell silent for a moment. "Ed" she said after a few moments "I'm proud of you, you signed up to be a dog of the military to get your bodies back, and even through all that has happened you managed to keep yourself from becoming someone like me" she said softly.

"It's too late for regret now Hawkeye" Ed said. "As long as you learned from what happened and will stand up for those people if anything like that happens again, there's nothing more you can do to be a better person" he said "and I couldn't have done what I did without you, so I don't care what you did in Ishval, I wouldn't be the person I am now without you" Ed finished.

Riza smiled "Ed" she started.

"No, let's stop now" Ed said cutting her off.

"Honestly talking has been good, but now I'm starting to feel weird about it" he said "we've been talking about our feelings for too long now" he grinned. “Besides the food’s getting cold.”

Riza grinned back "I guess so, but you always did tend to express your feelings, and normally very loudly so everyone could hear" she said "so loudly in fact that no one could ignore you" she finished laughing.

Ed grinned "What can I say, I'm dedicated to speaking my mind" he said chuckling,

Both of them quickly ate their breakfast, eager to get going. Though neither would admit it to anyone, they were both looking forward to spending time with each other.

"Let's head on out if you wanna tell Mustang we're leaving for Liore" Ed said picking up his red jacket off the couch. Riza nodded and went into her room to finish getting ready.

After finishing getting ready, Riza and Ed started walking to Central command. "Ugh not again" Riza moaned seeing the men they bumped into last night.

"Who are they anyways" Ed asked, keeping his eyes on the men.

"You remember Kimbley right" Riza asked. Yeah how could I forget, he pretty much impaled me with a beam" Ed responded, lifting up his shirt showing the scar that had formed even after he had healed it.

"God I hate this, you're still a kid and you already have battle scars that would have killed most trained and skilled soldiers" Riza said turning her head.

"Small price to pay" Ed replied softly, his mind drifting to Resembool. "Anyways back to those men" Ed said in a slightly demanding voice.

"Well in the war some of the soldiers shared Kimbley's cruel traits, and that being their personality they weren't exactly... polite to women" Riza finished.

"Did they ever..." Ed started.

Riza laughed "Ed, between Hughes, Mustang, and myself do you think I had troubles with them" she asked grinning. "I guess they just hold some resentment about having their asses kicked repeatedly" Riza said sighing.

"Well if they do anything this time, well I'm pretty sure I would be able to not kill them, but I have no qualms about severely injuring them" Ed said giving an evil smile.

Riza sighed "You're still mad about them calling you a pipsqueak aren't you" she said dropping her head.

"WELL I'M NOT A PIPSQUEAK, I HAVE GROWN" Ed yelled angrily.

"Well that is true you're my height, but now we have their attention" Riza commented. Ed looked over and saw the men walking towards them.

"Well I was saving this as a present because I know you like guns, but" Ed smiled, reaching into his coat. Riza was much like Winry in this way, if there was an awesome gun out, she wanted to get it. "It's not really military approved but I could get tell them it was my doing" he said tossing Riza the gun.

Riza's eyes lit up "Oh thank you Ed, this gun is so expensive that I wasn't actually planning on buying it, but you do realize that if I shoot them with this, it'll probably literally take off an arm right" Riza said raising an eyebrow at Ed.

"And" Ed replied grinning.

"Well if it isn't the guy who we ran into last night" the lead man said. Ed noticed that the man didn't call him pipsqueak, probably because it's would be even more embarrassing calling Ed small and then losing to him.

"What, wanna embarrass yourself even more" Ed asked with a sigh. The men in front of him all started to pull out their guns "I have a request" Ed said quickly. "We are in a public place, stray fire might him a civilian and that would bring the military punishment upon you, not just a beating from a kid, so let's go to somewhere more private" Ed suggested. The lead man grunted and nodded more confused than angry at this point. Looking at Ed, Riza sat down on the nearest bench.

Ed smiled as they reached the alley "Well time to pull your guns now isn't it" Ed asked pulled out his sword. The men pulled their guns and quickly started shooting. Ed easily dodged the bullets as he ran forward and with a few quick slices all of the men's guns fell apart. “Now for the people" Ed grinned. All of the men looked upon Ed with fear and ran away.

"Ok Riza, I really doubt they'll bother you as long as you're with me now" Ed said pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the fleeing men.

"Oh my hero" Riza replied in a high pitched voice, hugging Ed and lifting one leg back.

"A little overly girly" Ed commented with a grin.

"Anyways thanks, I'm glad that no one has bullet holes in them, and I'm serious about that" Riza said giving a small smile.

"What was with you acting like a girl" Ed asked. Riza raised an eyebrow in response "I mean like a girl girl, I mean you're really pretty you just don't normally act like a, I'm gonna shut up now" Ed said quickly lowering his head. Looking back up he saw Riza grinning "You didn't have to be so mean about it" Ed said grumpily.

"Well maybe you should be nicer to someone so pretty" Riza mocked.

"Come on let's just go so you can get permission" Ed responded grumpily. Riza laughed as she caught up to Ed, who had already walked away at a decent speed.

Ed and Riza walked up to Central command "Ugh I don't want to talk to Roy" Riza complained.

"Yeah neither do I, so I'll just wait out here" Ed responded sitting down on the steps.

Ed felt himself being dragged up the steps "If I'm going to talk to Roy so I can go with you then you have to come with me" Riza demanded.

 

"Well you don't have to come with me" Ed replied.

Riza stopped walking "Why am I going with you, I was supposed to bring you here and make you relax" Riza said realizing that he had convinced her to let him keep working.

"Well it isn't like I would be working, working. I was just gonna help them rebuild and hang out with the people there or something, I mean come on you can't just cut me off from working all at once that could kill me" Ed yelled.

"Wow first time I have ever heard someone complain about having me trying to stop them from working" Riza chuckled. "And you can't treat this like a drug, you can stop if you want" she added.

Ed sighed "Well I guess your company would be nice as well" he said quietly.

"Aww Edward how sweet" Riza said as she helped him stand up. "Well I guess since everything has ended I have been a bit lonely myself since our group was constantly working as a team, and now... yeah" she added. "Well let’s get going we have to get to Liore soon" Riza grinned as she started dragging Ed again.

After reaching the Mustang's office Ed broke Riza's grip "Come on, I don't need Mustang trying to tease me anymore" Ed said dusting off his coat.

Riza opened the door to Mustang's office "Oh Fullmetal, I was just about to send for you" Mustang said behind from behind his desk.

"Wow it actually looks like you're working" Ed joked.

"Yes being Fuhrer actually makes me work, and I want you to go to Liore, they have some sort of problem and I don't need the extra paperwork. I figured you’d want to go" Mustang said gritting his teeth.

"Sir, we were planning to go to Liore anyways" Riza started.

Mustang looked up with a grin "Got a hot date" he asked snickering.

"No sir, a relationship with a sixteen year old at my age is frowned upon in general, also a relationship with another officer is against regulations unless the proper paperwork is signed and approved by you, sir" Riza said.

Mustang frowned "You have to take all the fun out of teasing don't you" he complained.

"Yes sir, I count that as one of the benefits of my job" Riza replied with a slight grin.

"Ok well Liore has been having troubles with some weird desert people or sand monsters or both or whatever" Mustang said while going through his papers.

"Ugh, you know Bradley did even less work than me. All he did was work on trying to take over the world or whatever it was their plot was" Mustang groaned as he shuffled the paper in front of him away. "Anyways here's the file, now go make out on a train or something, I need to find a few assistants" Mustang said as he picked up the phone to call someone to find him a assistant that was good at this whether it was male or female.

Ed and Riza left Roy's office "Wow, he must be serious" Ed commented.

"Yeah I know, he didn't specifically ask for a female assistant and not a male one. He said either" Riza replied with a grin.

"Wanna go get some lunch" Ed asked.

"Why, we had breakfast like an hour ago" Riza replied with a single eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, a whole hour and we walked here" Ed said loudly, his body starting to droop.

"We can get something on the train" Riza said. "With the new tracks they built to Liore, it's a long train ride so they'll definitely have real food on the train" she explained, seeing how Ed had drooped even farther at the mention of eating train food.

The new tracks surprised a lot of people. The government hired several alchemists as civil servants to make the foundation tracks. They were kept on for maintenance of the tracks so the sand wouldn’t erode to much of them.

"Let's go tomorrow" Ed said. Riza smacked Ed in the head causing him to straighten out again. "Since the train goes so far and it's a route that's not traveled by a whole lot of people, and we already missed it” Ed told Riza.

“Since the next train is tomorrow we have the rest of today to do whatever"

Ed sighed "And apparently that whatever is going to be beating up the same guys repeatedly" he said, seeing Riza's aggressors again except in larger numbers now. Riza groaned, she couldn't just pull out and start shooting — everyone would start freaking out.

Fortunately the Fuhrer's office was right above where Ed and Riza were standing. Ed picked up a few small pebbles and started throwing them at Mustang's window.

After a few seconds Mustang came out to meet them "What is it" he asked, the anger practically radiating off of him.

"Can you get a some officers to arrest those guys, they've assaulted us twice today" Ed asked.

"That’s what you made me come down here for, you couldn't have gotten the officer's yourself" Mustang asked bringing his glove up and getting ready to burn Ed.

Ed saw the movement and spit on the glove "Can't start a spark not can ya flame boy" he mocked as Mustang stormed away.

"Hey Ed, that was kinda gross" Riza said trying to bite back her laughter.

Ed and Riza ran out of sight and headed around a different way to avoid the thugs. As they went back into a walk, Ed noticed that a few teenage girls were looking at him and giggled when he made eye contact with them.

“You’re Edward Elric right?” one of the girls asked.

“Yeah” Ed replied with a smile.

They made small talk for a few minutes, the girls laughing at jokes that weren’t funny, and prodding way to much into his personal life.

“How did you get that automail?” one of the girls asked.

“Sorry girls, I’m going to have to take the Colonel away from you. We have work” Riza said, seeing Ed getting uncomfortable.

The girls frowned, but Riza ignored them. After a few minutes Ed chuckled. “Thanks for saving me there.”

“What else are friends for than saving each other from attractive members of the opposite gender.” Riza said with a slight smile.

"You know I just find it amusing, I've been so concentrated on getting me and Al's bodies back that the only girls I talked to multiple times were you, Winry, Maria — though she was my guard — and a bunch of like five year olds" Ed explained.

“Yeah I suppose you can concentrate on being a teenager now”

“Meh too late” Ed replied.

Riza started to laugh "Let’s go get something to eat, I forgot you can't just wait until the train ride tomorrow to eat" she offered with a small grin.

After wandering around for about a hour Ed and Riza found a place to get lunch — the place being the cafeteria at command. "Well, when I thought of going somewhere to eat I wasn't really thinking of this" Riza commented with a chuckle.

"Yeah but it's somewhat decent food and there's a lot" Ed replied shoveling the food into his mouth. Riza, deciding that Ed was eating too fast, pushed his biggest enemy towards him. Ed stopped eating, and his eyes locked onto the bottle of milk.

"Ok Ed if you don't slow down I'm going to pour this milk on all of your food" Riza threatened.

Ed paused for a moment "Eh, I'm just about done eating anyways" he said pointing to his nearly empty plate.

Ed and Riza got up and left. "Let's head back to my place, don't really know what to do now that all of the stuff has been wrapped up" Riza said. "I mean there's clean up work, but that's basically what we're going tomorrow" she added with a sigh.

Ed and Riza reached her house. Riza opened the door and Ed walked in behind her and plopped down on the couch. "Ed you know you should probably carry a gun" Riza told him.

"Why, I can beat most people with a sword" Ed replied putting his feet up on his coffee table.

Riza knocked Ed’s feet off the table. "Well you have been used to using alchemy at range as well as fighting at close range with that monkey like style of yours" Riza said chuckling a bit at Ed's fighting style. "While you still fight like that, you've lost the alchemy and if you need to cover a distance" Riza started to explain.

"If I need to cover distance I can throw my sword or run at them, the Armstrongs branded the quickness into me and gave me a few pointers on fighting, and Olivier is scary with that sword of hers" Ed said remembering her attacking him. "I mean I'm quicker and faster than her, but all she has to do is look at me in that scary way and she wins" Ed added. "Although most of my sword skills were helped by Ling" he said thinking back to right before Ling went back to Xing.

Riza sighed "You’re getting off topic" she said. "If I'm at the end of a hallway, what would you do if I had a gun" she asked.

"I dunno, you always have a gun so I guess I'd just walk by" Ed replied.

"Ok say I'm an enemy at the end of the hall with a gun, then what would you do" Riza asked.

"Run for my life, even if I had a gun I wouldn't be able to beat you with it" Ed replied. Riza sighed and knocked Ed's feet off of the coffee table.

"Just carry one, don't use it if you don't want to, but at least carry it. For me." Riza pleaded.

Ed gave a resigned sigh "Sure why not, I can look cool with a gun" he said grinning.

Ed put his feet up on the coffee table only to get them knocked down by Riza again. "Hey, would you stop it" Ed complained.

"I have a foot rest if you want to put your feet up, just don't use the coffee table" Riza said. "You know it's always kind of funny to watch you fight hand-to-hand, you bouncing all over the place is surprisingly interesting" Riza said remembering how Ed would do several flips, jumping over around, and diving under his enemies, and pretty much much anything that would benefit him in a fight.

Ed got up off the couch "I miss having something driving me, and have someone next to me striving for the same goals" he said sighing.

"You miss Al don't you" Riza Stated more than asked.

"Yeah, I also miss the traveling" Ed said softly "being in stuck in central kind of sucks" he added.

Riza gave a small smile "You know, I've only really been to eastern, central... and Ishval" Riza said, her voice growing quiet at the end.

"You know unlike a lot of people I didn't join the military for any reason like wanting to save Amestris or helping people, or even for the money" Ed said. "I joined so I could get Al's body back, and with luck my own" he finished. "Though no luck for me" he added with a small chuckle. "I'm thinking about quitting".

Riza looked at Ed in shock "Ed..." she said softly.

"Honestly, there isn't any reason for me to stay part of the military now" Ed explained. "I became a state alchemist because I needed access to research materials that I couldn't get otherwise".

Riza shifted uncomfortably. "Ed you have friends here, and it's a job" Riza said trying to convince Ed to stay. "Plus with Mustang as the Fuhrer, people will be protected from things like Ishval. I've seen the way you react to what happened in Ishval, if you stay with the military you can also prevent that from happening" Riza finished.

Ed chuckled "Geez Riza, why don't you just start begging — it wouldn't be a huge leap" he joked.

Riza smacked Ed playfully "You’re a good person Ed, even if you didn't join for those reasons I know that you can't ignore them" Riza said.

Ed nodded "Man after that how could I say no" he said.

"I'm sure Mustang will let you do whatever you want, you'll be able to travel whenever you want" Riza said.

"I'm gonna go to bed now" Ed told Riza as he got up. Before he left Ed turned towards Riza, who had also gotten up "Thanks" he said as he stepped forward and gave her a hug. "I've never really talked to someone like this" Ed explained before he left to go to bed.

Ed took off his shirt in the hall, letting Riza see his body. Riza winced when she looked at his back, he should of died ten times over, but he seemed to have worked right on through his injuries. When Riza saw what Ed was doing for himself and his brother, for the people they met, and for Amestris as a whole, she realized he couldn't have die. He hadn't had the time for it.

Riza slipped out of her military clothes and slipped into her pajamas. She went to sit down on her bed. Riza sighed, all she could think of was Ed. She knew that Ed didn't see anything wrong with the way that he lived for the last four years and even before that, but it was painfully obvious to everyone around him that the way he been growing up wasn't any way for a kid to grow up. It wasn’t a way anyone should live.

She still couldn't believe that the military had let a twelve year old join — not that she didn't want Ed to accomplish his goals. Riza sighed it was too late now, Ed had grown up with this life he chose and somehow came out on top in almost every way possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Riza woke up to the smell of food. "ED" she called out, seeing if it was him.

"Hold on, just stay there for a minute" Ed yelled back. Riza laid back down wondering why Ed told her to stay in bed. After hearing a bit of rustling Riza saw Ed come through the door with a tray of food.

"Oh Ed, you didn't have to" Riza said as Ed put the tray down on her lap.

"Well I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay... and the mess I made in the living room" Ed replied scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Whatever, it can't be that much of a mess" Riza replied offhandedly. Ed chuckled nervously as he left the room.

After going back to the kitchen and eating his own food, Ed saw Riza come out of her room. As she came out to the kitchen and living room area, Riza looked towards her couch and her jaw dropped to the floor. "What the, how, when" Riza asked barely able to make the words come out of her mouth. The entire living room was covered in papers and books.

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I went out and got some stuff for some research" Ed explained chuckling nervously.

"And did anything come of this, or did you just make a mess of my living room" Riza asked threateningly.

"Well I did figure out how to set a alchemic trigger that can be triggered by anyone. The specific purpose of this one is so I can turn the cover into a blade" Ed replied "Oh but for anyone to activate it someone that can use alchemy has to charge it, like pulling the hammer on a single action revolver for someone without a thumb... or two hands... okay, yeah you know what I mean though." he added.

Riza looked at Ed "Wow, honestly that's pretty cool. And I really don’t like alchemy all that much" Riza admitted.

"I'm gonna go find a alchemist really quick so I can get mine charged up" Ed told Riza as he lifted his arm and showed her the sign on his automail arm.

"That’s... that’s really complicated, a lot more complicated than anything I've seen" Riza commented.

Ed grinned "Yeah the trigger took a lot of work so someone without alchemy could use it, then there's the transformation that the trigger causes, and then the part of the seal that stores energy for the transformation" Ed explained. "The first and third part took a lot of work, that's why it's so complicated" Ed told Riza.

Riza looked at Ed's arm; she knew that using his automail arm as a close range weapon while he jumped around was how he fought, and while jumping around it was the best way to fight since it was smaller than a sword, since there was a significantly smaller chance of him injurying himself. "Ok then, pack up your stuff and I'll meet you at the train station" Riza told Ed. Ed nodded and went back to his room to pack.

Ed sighed as he left Riza's house carrying his suitcase. Ed started to head down to central to find a state alchemist... preferably one that could perform alchemy. Ed looked down at his pocket watch and started wondering if he would have to turn it later since he couldn't perform alchemy.

After reaching headquarters Ed looked around “Let’s see, the quickest way to find an alchemist would be to.... go bother Mustang” he said to himself mischievously.

Walking up to the Fuhrer’s office Ed stepped up to the secretary's desk “Um excuse me I have to see Mustang, I just received important news” he told her.

The secretary sighed “I know you don’t, and the Fuhrer has important work that he has to do” she replied.

Ed sighed before pushing the doors open, much to the secretary’s dismay “Hey, I was just asking as a formality” Ed told her with a smile.

“What is it Fullmetal” Mustang asked.

“Ah well, I need you to charge up this array I made” Ed told him.

Mustang took a closer look at the array “What does it do?” he asked inspecting it.

“It should allow allow me to store and release alchemic energy, but I haven’t tested it” Ed explained.

Mustang paused for a moment “You’re still registered as a state alchemist aren’t you” he asked.

Ed flinched “Ha, I guess you were hoping I’d forget about it” Mustang mused leaning back in his chair.

“Hey as long as I come up with stuff I’m still qualified as a state alchemist aren’t I” Ed asked with a small amount of doubt in his voice.

“Well I’ll let you keep the position if you stop pestering me about everything, although this array you’ve made is interesting, so what do I need to do” Mustang asked.

“Just activate the inner transmutation circle”

⍭⍭⍭⍭⍭

Riza looked back towards central command after hearing an explosion. Sighing, Riza started walking towards command. It was almost certainly Ed and Mustang’s fault. Ed almost certainly childish enough to actually go to Mustang to help him, and Mustang was almost certain to screw with him.

Walking up to the Mustang’s office she sighed. The secretary looked quite annoyed as well.

“I didn’t want to let him in, but he just ignored me” she said, not justifying herself, but wanting Ed to be punished somehow. After all, she was currently Mustang’s only secretary, and Ed had blew her off more than once.

“I’ll take care of it” Riza said.

Walking into the office, she thought it would be better to skip Mustang’s lecture since he had actual work to do. Grabbing Ed by his ponytail, Riza dragged him out of the office. After getting out onto the street Riza turned towards Ed.

“What was that?” she asked looking agitated.

“Uh, hehe, I kinda forget the details on how you were supposed to use the array. It’s a bit complicated and delicate and I kind of forgot that it isn’t very easy to actually use” Ed said scratching the back of his head nervously.

Riza looked at Ed and sighed. This was basically his childhood so giving him a bit of a break shouldn’t be too bad.

“Just don’t forget to explain everything thoroughly next time, got it?” Riza said sending a glare that made Ed shiver.

“Yes ma’am” he replied quickly and quietly.

“Good” Riza said patting Ed on the head, much to his annoyance.

The walk to the train was mostly silent. They sat down in the train for several hours making small talk. Eventually Ed sighed. Seeing as Riza took no real notice, he sighed again, only a little louder.

“What is it” Riza asked, annoyed.

“Well if I remember correctly, you said you would get me some food on the train” Ed told her.

Riza facepalmed. “No I said you could have food on the train. I never said that I would get it for you”

“Well I made you breakfast” Ed replied.

“I thought that was an apology for messing up my living room”

“Well, can you do it anyways, I’ll get dinner” Ed offered.

Riza sighed as she got up. She was getting a bit hungry as well, and the food wasn’t brought around, but held in a coach that was converted to hold food. Walking up to the cashier in the coach Riza laid down a wad of cash.

“Just give me whatever that can buy”

The cashier raised her eyebrow.

“I have a teenage boy with me that can eat much more than me” Riza explained. She did have some self respect. She couldn’t have anyone thinking that she would be eating all that food herself.

“Oh your son?” the cashier asked smiling brightly.

“State alchemist” Riza replied slightly annoyed. Riza looked over to see the cashier blushing a bit. “Oh you know of Edward” Riza asked.

The girl nodded. She didn’t look much over eighteen years old. A lot of people had heard rumors of Ed due to everything he had done, and to most teenage girls they were more fantasies than anything. Riza remembered Ed telling her about Mei’s reaction to him when he they had first met. After everything was over and done with he had gotten Mei to explain why she was so mean to him.

“Can you introduce me to him?” the cashier asked blushing.

“Don’t you need to work or something?” Riza asked a bit annoyed. She didn’t particularly want to share Ed’s company.

“We take five hour shifts, and my shift is almost over, and” the girl was cut off with a glare from Riza.

“Look, he’s with me and we’re hungry so just give me the damn food” Riza ordered angrily.

Taking the food, Riza left. Who did that girl think that she was. Riza wore a glare as she walked down the aisle. Ed was her’s, and now that she was finally spending time alone with him she wasn’t going to let others intrude upon that time.

After reaching the cabin and looking at Ed, RIza felt a bit guilty. What the hell was she thinking. Ed wasn’t hers. He just happened to be living with her. At this point in her train of thought, the fact that he was a minor had been completely abandoned. Though he stopped being a minor in many people’s eyes a while ago.

After eating in silence for a few minutes, Ed noticed that something was bothering RIza. “Hey is something wrong?”

“No, I was just thinking” Riza replied. Putting her plate down next to her, she opened the door. She was thinking about going and apologizing to the girl, but that girl happened to be walking down the aisle. Riza motioned for the girl to come over, and the girls eyes lit up.

“Ed, this girl wanted to meet you” Riza said pulling the cashier in. “This is, um” Riza tailed off as she didn’t know the girls name.

“I’m Amy” the girl said, her excitement frightening Ed.

Ed didn’t particularly like too much attention being drawn to himself. Granted he could deal with it, but it was much easier to remain undetected. Granted in Liore pretty much everyone knew him.

Ed gave a small forced chuckle “Hey I’m Ed” he said was a small smile.

The girl sat next to Ed for a bit and asked him questions, which he answered mostly honestly. “Are you, uh, dating anyone?” the girl asked nervously.

Ed hesitated a bit. The question made him a bit uncomfortable. If he said no then the girl be able to assault him for as long as they were on the train.”Her” Ed said pointing to Riza, who ended up blushing a bit.

“Ed, I thought you said we weren’t going to tell anyone yet” Riza said playing along.

“What would you rather me have someone else hanging on me?” Ed asked, before glancing at the girl “no offense” he added,

The girl merely smiled. Now she understood why the blonde women didn’t want to bring her back here. “Aren’t you a bit old for him?” the girl asked with an obvious joking tone in her voice. She didn’t want to be murdered by this woman.

“Yes probably, but to be fair, with everything that happened I’ll probably end up dying before either of you anyways” Ed said, remembering all of the things that had happened to him.

Ed talked to the girl for a few more minutes on happier subjects before she thanked him and left.

“Well, since we’re dating now, don’t you want to sit on the same side as me?” Riza asked with a smile.

Ed looked away, his cheeks turning red “We wanna keep it a secret remember.”

“Of course, my bad” Riza replied smiling. A few moments passed before Riza looked at Ed again. “What did you mean you’d probably die before us?”

Ed looked over at Riza “Well, I haven’t exactly been treating my body nicely these past years. It’s taken it’s toll.”

“Yes, but that could be said for all of us. It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, I was just curious.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just, I still feel guilty about it. When I got stuck inside Gluttony’s stomach I had to open the Gate of Truth.” Ed said. Riza nodded. They had all gotten together and filled in the gaps for each other, but they all knew each of them left parts out. All of them had things they weren't proud of.

“I had to use the philosopher's stone that was part of Envy’s body as the payment for opening the gate.”

Riza went over to Ed and put her arm around him. She knew Ed had and did justify the of the philosopher’s stone as a way to get out, but she also knew that because of who he was, he still felt terrible about using the souls of the people.

“I knew how to use that type of energy, so it was easier to prepare to heal myself when I was impaled by the beam.” Ed said, talking more easily now. “I had to use my own life force as energy to heal myself after the beam was pulled out of me.” Ed said nonchalantly. This part didn’t bother him at all.

Riza, however, recoiled in horror when she heard.

Ed gave a comforting smile “Don’t worry about it, I would do it again if I had to.”

Riza sighed. There was no getting through to him about how much he worried her. Riza started to wonder if this was how a mother worried about her child. No that wasn’t quite it, but every time Ed told her one of these stories where he got hurt, it tore at her heart.

“Ed, just promise me you’ll try to stay out of danger from now on” Riza pleaded.

“You know I can’t promise that anymore than you can promise me that,” Ed replied “besides you are already making me carry a gun.”

Riza sighed again. Ed merely grinned and put his arm around her shoulder “Just wait till we get to Liore, we’ll have a great time. Fighting off evil, building houses, and sweating our asses off in the heat.”

“You really know how to show a girl a good time don’t you Fullmetal.”

“You wound me Riza. Going back and using my state assigned title.”

Riza rolled her eyes. Leaning into him she closed her eyes. She heard Ed take a sharp breath. “Just keep breathing, you’re making an awkward pillow right now.” Riza complained.

Ed let out a small laugh, and closed his eyes as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Ed woke up to someone lightly shaking his shoulder. Looking up he saw Amy “We’re there. Everyone else is already off the train.”

“Oh, thanks” Ed said quickly, pulling Riza up to her feet before she could fall to the side. Ed supported her until she got balanced.

“Come on let’s go” Ed said excitedly.

Riza looked over to Amy “Thanks for waking us up.”

“No problem. You guys do make a cute couple though.” Amy said with a bright smile. She didn’t think she would've had much of a chance at getting with someone as famous as the Fullmetal alchemist in the first place.

“Uh, yeah, thanks” Riza said blushing.

As Riza exited the train, saw Ed smiling. She knew his memories of this place were both good and bad. “You look rather happy.” she commented.

Ed looked over and understood after seeing Riza’s worried expression. “I’m glad to see Liore doing so well, and it’ll be nice to see Rose. I heard she was doing quite well as well.”

Riza gave a weak smile. “You want to go see her before we start?” she asked weakly.

Ed nodded, not noticing Riza’s discomfort. He hadn't seen Rose since they had exposed Cornello, but from what Alphonse said she was a confident happy person now.

Riza looked at Ed. He seemed happy and she felt guilty for not wanting him to be, at least not for the reasons that he was right now.

After all if she didn't do something soon, how long would Ed stay single. Comparing him to everyone else is the office there wasn't much comparison. Roy was the only person in the office that could actually cook anything, and that always ended up being burned. Ed had his personality faults, but he was still probably the person she liked best personality wise.

Riza shook the thoughts from her head. There was no point in thinking about how much she liked Ed. She was ten years older than him, and regardless of whether he was going to die younger than her, it was still a large age difference.

She had to admit that he was both smarter and wiser than someone his age should be. People, including herself, may call him naive, but she knew that he knew that it was naive and didn’t care. He kept part of his innocence that nearly everyone else in the military had lost. He paid for it, but it was still there. That was the biggest distinction from him and everyone else. He knew his naivety, knew what it would, and had, cost him and he was fully willing to pay that price. There was still that line that he would not cross.

“Riza, Rose is going to show us a place to stay.” Ed said, waving for her to follow.

Looking up, she noticed the position of the sun had visibly changed. She was surprised to say the least.

“Rose” Riza called out.

“Yes?”

“What about this about desert people and sand monsters?” Riza asked, slightly surprised at how something like that didn’t sound weird to her anymore.

“Oh that, if you guys are here for that I’m glad they sent you. We were originally going to deal with this ourselves, but one of the older grumpier people must have sent for you. It’s some teenagers have dressed up and started breaking down some of the structures that are just being set up. They call themselves followers of Leto, which most people don’t take to kindly to here.”

Ed nodded understandingly “So you just want us to teach them a lesson then?”

“Maybe toss them in a cell for a few days, scare them a bit. They’re just kids and it’s not like they’re destroying anything, just knocking stuff down.” Rose replied.

“You know where they are?”

“They come out of the Church of Leto, but they don’t stay there all the time. They generally avoid the place if someone camps out there though.”

“They normally come out at night?” Riza asked.

Rose nodded.

“Okay, we’ll start right after we put our stuff down.” Ed said.

Rose smiled and led them through the streets. Most people gave a nod or waved to Ed and Rose as they passed. Riza noted that most people here seemed to respect Ed, which was understandable. She got a few wary looks, but most people seemed indifferent about her.

Rose stopped at a medium sized house. “This is where you’ll be staying.” she told them with a bright smile.

“Is there anyone else staying here?” Riza asked curiously.

Rose gave more downcast look “Even with how many buildings were destroyed, so many people died that, well we have houses that we can use for guests and such.”

"Oh, and the bedroom is upstairs and to the left." Rose added.

Ed and Riza looked at Rose, waiting for her to continue. Rose stood there blinking, slightly confused.

"Oh, are you guys doing that like waiting till marriage thing?" Rose asked.

Both Ed and Riza turned beat red. "Why would you think we are together?" Riza asked having regained her composure before Ed.

"Well you two do look kinda cozy, but also Amy told me." Rose said happily.

"Oh well you know, if we were in the same room, no work would get done" Riza said, flustered and chuckling nervously. This caused Ed to feel like his jaw was about to disconnect when he heard what Riza said.

Rose blushed and giggled a bit "Don't worry about it. Like I said there just trouble makers and it was the bitter old people that reported it. If I can find them I can sort it out myself" Rose told them as she ushered them inside and then closed the door behind them.

Once Ed was sure Rose was gone, he looked over to Riza "What on god's earth made you say that?" he asked slightly panicked.

"I don't know, I panicked and that was the first explanation to pop into my head" Riza replied.

"Now the whole town probably know, we can play along and if we return we can just say we broke up" Ed told her.

Riza nodded. To be completely honest with herself, she didn't mind playing this little game. Ed did seem to mind, but as usual she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Ed, this is a serious question okay" Riza said, making sure she had his full attention.

"Yeah ok, what is it?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Do you think it would really be that bad being with me?" Riza asked.

Ed looked over at Riza. She actually seemed worried, though if she caught on to any of what they said in the office, then he wasn't surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"Well you reaction just a minute ago, and I know that because of how I'm the one that keeps everyone in line at work, they don't think I'll ever end up with someone."

Ed sighed "Yeah, those guys aren't as quiet as they think. But no, I think you'd be an awesome person to end up with" Ed told her "Though you did seriously surprise me with what you said earlier" he added with a chuckle. "Honestly if I ended up with someone like you, I think I'd be pretty lucky.

"Ok, we'll continue this little charade" Riza said, pushing her finger into Ed's chest, "However, I expect you to take me out on a nice dinner at least once during this trip. Assuming it isn't too much trouble for the people here"

"Riza Hawkeye" Ed said, drawing out her name, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Riza gave Ed a small peck on the lips, and then walked away giving a small sway of the hips before she ran into a room a slammed the door behind her

Ed rolled his eyes. All the composure he knew she had, had just fallen to pieces.

"Ok Riza, I'll be right back. Stay here I'll only be gone for about thirty minutes" Ed said though the door.

On the other side, Riza was trying to control her breath. She had been trying to act cool and sexy in front of Ed, though the logical side of her brain questioned that because Ed had basically already said he liked her, but through all of it she ended up embarrassing herself.

Ed sighed as he walked outside. It would take a few minutes for him to catch the kids responsible for causing trouble, maybe threatening them with a jail or even prison sentence, and then he would go and pick up some food for dinner.

Ed grinned as he thought of Riza. He was surprised enough to think he would actually have a heart attack when she kissed him, but he had almost laughed when she ran away. She had seemed so composed for the first half of it.

⍭⍭⍭⍭⍭

Riza's eyes fluttered as she was awoken by the sound of the door.

"I'm back" Ed called out.

Riza looked around to realize she had fallen asleep, leaning against the door of the room that she had fled to. Walking out into the main part of the house and looked at Ed, who had his arms full of food.

"It wasn't to hard to track the kids. And I'm guessing that the townsfolk aren't very good at hiding or keeping the gossip down. I ambushed them pretty easily" Ed said as he put the food down on the table.

"They're aren't any real restaurants yet, so I figured I could make dinner" he explained.

Riza smiled "Sounds great."


	5. Chapter 5

Ed groaned as he got up out of bed. He missed the warmth that was usually next to him. It had been about a month until they had finally said that they were dating.

Another eight months had passed and Riza proposed to him in which he replied no, though he quickly explained that it should have been him that proposed. The shock had worn off fairly quickly. They had been talking about getting married, but until then it had been nothing more than talk.

Now today, a year from when they had gotten together — which Ed counted as the day Riza told him to take a vacation and he started to live with her, Riza had gone to work early. The wedding was in four days, but Riza had insisted that Mustang would take care of the wedding and she would take care of their honeymoon.

Ed sighed. It would be nearly the entire day until he saw Riza again. She would probably be done with her work right as he got in, and then he wouldn't see her till tonight.

⍭⍭⍭⍭⍭

Riza snuggled closer to Ed. The wedding was tomorrow and she couldn't make herself go to sleep. She knew nothing would really change, at this point it was more of a formality between them. She was changing her name to Elric. She had thought about keeping her last name, but there were a lot of bad memories attached to it, while the name Elric only had good memories or at least no purely bad memories. There were always bad memories when there was a war.

"Riza, come on. Go to sleep already. Staying awake will only make it seem longer." Ed said tiredly.

Truthfully he had butterflies in his stomach as well, but had had been working hard enough the last couple days that he was tired enough to sleep through practically anything, though Riza always managed to wake him up somehow.

Ed went back to sleep, holding Riza. After a few hours, Riza went to sleep herself.

The morning was, as they expected, a rush. They had tried to get everything together the day before, but inevitably they both forgot where they had set things down, and realized there were other things they needed.

Eventually, after much running about, Ed and Riza were out the door. Ed pulled at the collar of his suit as Riza drove. She had insisted that she wanted a nice formal, non-military wedding. Ed didn't particularly care what type of wedding it was, so he agreed.

Ed wasn't particularly interested in anything in the wedding. The whole idea of getting married didn't really mean anything to him. All it meant was it was acknowledged by the state. However, he knew it meant more to Riza so he didn't say anything.

Ed, despite the fact that he didn't really think much of the process, couldn't help but grin like an idiot through the entire ceremony.

After everything was finished Ed moved to kiss Riza, but faltered and fell face first into Riza's chest causing everyone to laugh.

There were a few concerned looks since Ed wasn't getting back up. "Don't worry" Riza said smiling. "He's been working to long and too hard, and I kept him up all night" she said with a bit of a chuckle.

Riza brought Ed into the back while everyone turned to each other and started talking.

"I can't believe out of everyone, Ed and Riza were the first to get married" Alphonse said laughing.

Roy laughed. Ed was annoying, but he was one of the few that Mustang trusted with his life. "Especially to each other" Roy added "I remember seeing the look on everyone's faces when they announced the wedding, although I probably looked the same as everyone else" he said laughing.

"I'm just surprised that Ed could get someone like Riza" Winry said, unable to contain the slight smile on her face.

A gunshot rang out in the back, causing everyone to turn towards where Ed and Riza had gone. Mustang, his team, and Alphonse ran to the back.

Tears started to brim their eyes as they saw the two bodies before them. Blood soaked Riza's white dress, a bullet wound in what looked like the heart.

Ed had blood covering his suit, and when they checked on him, there was no heartbeat and some of the heat had already left his body, however, there was no bullet wound.

Looking at them, Riza was wrapped up in Ed's arms, the gun laying only a few centimeters away from her hands.

Looking on the dresser, they saw a note.

"It's definitely Riza's handwriting" Roy said, unable to keep himself from choking on the words.

_Dear Friends and Family_   
_Ed died when he fell into my chest at the altar. He could already feel that he didn't have much longer to live. I thought we'd have enough time to at least go on our honeymoon, but nonetheless, that's why we're both dead. Please bury our bodies together. Alphonse and Roy can decide what to do with our belongings._   
_Riza Elric_

"I'll arrange the funeral" Roy said as he handed the note to Alphonse.

Havoc shook his head. He thought Roy should be the one to tell everyone, with him being the fuhrer and the closest to Ed and Riza, but he couldn't manage any words as Roy walked by.

After Alphonse read the note again, Breda took the note from him and went out to the front and read it to everyone. They had as much right to know.


End file.
